living reconciled to God, and redeemed by its strength and comfort, are still bearing the penalty of sin.

Now, my brethren, what becomes of the doctrine, so common (except in the Bible), that the object of the Atonement was to abolish the consequences of sin? This must be false teaching, for the answer to it is simply in the fact that whatever a man sows that does he reap. Tell a man that his acceptance of Christ as his Saviour delivers him from the punishment of sin, and he replies, "It is not so. I am the creature of all that I have been, and my reconciliation to God does not unmake the past. Moreover, if I live, I shall still be tempted and fall sometimes: and every time I fall I shall suffer for it. I suffer from the results of a long disease; and if your only comfort is that I am now to be set free from the consequences of that disease, it is a small comfort. It is not deliverance from pain or suffering that I yearn for; it is reconciliation with One whom I have offended; with whom alone is strength, and peace, and joy; and unless I become like to Him, these, His gifts, can never become mine."

"But then," it is said, "you are taking account of the punishment of sin as it works in this world.

It is punishment in the world to come that Christ died to deliver us from." Well, in the first place I do not remember that the Bible ever says that the object of Christ's death is to deliver us from hell. As I have pointed out constantly, it speaks of sin as the thing from which we need to be saved. Moreover, the Bible does not define two distinct kinds of

punishment for sin. It speaks of the wages of sin being death. It describes death as to be without God. Sin is death, for it is the ungodly nature. When our Lord wished to describe hell as the punishment of sin, He spoke of it by different images, as a state of darkness and gnashing of teeth, as a fire that is not quenched, as a worm that never dies. If a man, loving sin, became suddenly aware of the true meaning of life, and the beauty of holiness, he would be conscious at once of the meaning of hell. A state of sin—a state where God is not-is hell, whether in this state of being or in some other. From this spiritual state the Son of man was manifested that He might deliver us. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."

"Yes," but my opponents may say, "so far we agree with you. But you are putting out of

sight the real difficulty-the real stumblingblock. We believe that Christ came to deliver us from sin-we are willing to use your language and the language of Scripture, since you insist upon it. But as far as your statement goes, His life alone might save us. If a man from studying the Saviour's life and words were converted from darkness to light, you would say that he had been saved. But what then becomes of His death? We believe that it was His death that

had the atoning power. He died for the sins of the world. It is not His life that the Apostles preach, but His death. The cross of Christ— this and this alone. In the very words of your text the Saviour points to His death as the availing force to draw men unto Him; for He used the words, 'signifying thereby what death He should die."

And, my brethren, we will reply to our imaginary opponent: "We cannot deny your words, for they are an echo of the whole Gospel message; they are confirmed by the history of Christianity since the death of Christ. We only differ from you in this, that we cannot separate the incarnation of Christ, and His life on earth, from His death, in estimating the sacrifice that He made for men." The moving force of Chris

tianity is that it centres in a life, and that that whole life was a sacrifice for mankind; a sacrifice begun in the manger-cradle of Bethlehem and crowned by the last agonies upon the cross. Christ came into the world to meet and conquer sin. He met it, and He conquered; conquered by being conquered. No other spectacle could move the heart of man as that of its God-the holiest and the wisest, the most priceless life that ever beat upon earth-facing the power of sin in arms, and yielding to it rather than bate one iota of His claim, rather than soften down, to suit the tastes of men, one word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. All the words of the Saviour, all the deeds of mercy by which His love to men and His Divine nature were declared, great and immeasurable as they are, shrink in comparison with His life and His death. In His life and death are concentred His whole message, His whole nature. They have a force and a fire which no precepts, no example ever did supply, ever could supply. Small wonder that the Apostle said, not "God forbid that I should glory save in the teaching, or in the nature of my Lord," but "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Christ." Small wonder that the prophet, looking forward

to the dawn of a new world, said of the Sacrificial Lamb, not that we were dissuaded from our sin by His exhortation and His compassion, but that "by His stripes we are healed." Small wonder that the Saviour, in that strain of mighty prophecy, should look forward to His death as raising Him above the world to an elevation from which, like "the moist star upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands," He should sway the mighty tide of human affection to Himself. “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

I am speaking to-day, my brethren, as I began by saying I should only speak—of a single aspect of this mighty theme. There are two main methods of considering the Atonement : one, as an arrangement, as it is called, between two Persons of the Eternal Trinity, for paying a certain penalty; the other, as an influence brought to bear upon sinful men for drawing them out of their sin into union with Christ. I say that it is this last consideration which alone concerns us, and which we can alone comprehend. With regard to the first, it is enough for us to know that the Father was perfectly satisfied with the obedience-even unto death-of His only-begotten Son. In this obedience we believe